Sam’s Impact

One thing I'm asked more often lately is "what happened to Eddie House?"

Well… Sam happened… and isn't that what we all wanted? After last night… aren't we glad he's here?

The Celtics scored 35 points in the second half… and Sam I Am had 11 of those…. including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Celtics were clinging to 1 point leads. That breathing room was HUGE on a night that didn't feature much scoring.

Look… I know he didn't exactly tear it up against Atlanta… but he had a pretty good game 5. And when you consider Ray Allen cold enough to reverse Global Warming right now… Sam having the sack to take… and make… clutch shots is welcome.

And I'll give Doc some credit for hanging with Sam while he was hot at the end. We all know I'm driving the Rondo bandwagon… but when you've essentially got ONE guy knocking down outside jumpers… you don't take him out.

Can you think of the mis-matches that Jackson would create with LeBron’s unique skill set and freakish combination of size and speed? What would he do with Ilgauskas that can knock down a shot from 12-18 feet? Think he could find a way to get Gibson 15-20 shots a game? Ok, forget Jackson. What if Jerry Sloan was coaching the Cavaliers? Is it possible that LeBron and Z would be the next great pick-and-roll combo in the league? The point should be obvious. Mike Brown is a great defensive coach, but he can’t coach an offense.

You have to look at the positives: the defense on Pierce and Allen, the solid presence established by Ilgauskas on the low block, and the tough offensive rebounding from Wallace. So when those shots start going down for #23 – and you know they will – the results are going to start being different.

(And psssst…don’t tell Boston fans this, as they were too busy drowning themselves in the sorrows of not winning the Oden-Durant lottery at the time, but the Cavs were down 0-2 to Detroit last year before ripping off four straight wins.)